The University of Iowa Libraries

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Special Collections

BLEES, ROBERT, 1918-. Robert Blees Productions, 5 ft. MsC 124. Finding Aid .
born Lathrop, Montana, educated Dartmouth College. American film and television script-writer and producer. From 1940, scenarist for Warner Bros. Formerly a Board member of the Screen Writers Guild, Executive Board member of Screen Producers Guild and Board of Directors member of the Producers-Writers Pension Plan. The collection consists of 16 boxes, (12 of written materials, three containing still photographs of motion pictures and one box of non-commercial sound recordings from soundtracks) as well as an oversized drawer. Most of the written material such as scripts, treatments, and fiction are by Blees. These include the screenplay for the remake of Magnificent Obsession and a number of scripts for the TV series Combat!, which Blees produced. There are also a number of scripts by other authors, including Joseph Stefano's screenplay for Psycho and the script for the original A Star Is Born. Miscellaneous materials include budget information, memos, correspondence, etc. The still photographs section contains stills from a large number of outstanding Hollywood films, mostly of the thirties and forties. The non-commercial sound recordings feature music from the television series Bus Stop and Combat! and musical arrangements from the motion picture Snows of Kilimanjaro. Included in the oversized drawer are miscellaneous artist renderings and photostats on the murder of Starr Faithfull.

CLARK, PATRICK SEAN. Patrick Sean Clark Papers, 1 ft. MsC 508. Finding Aid .
Sean Clark received a BA, University of Missouri, 1982, and earned his MFA in playwriting at the University of Iowa, 1988, winning several prizes while doing so. He has since been associated with some of the most popular and critically acclaimed television programs of the past decade, writing for Northern Exposure and The Commish, story-editing for Coach and Evening Shade, and acting as a consulting producer on Sirens and Sliders and a supervising producer on Early Edition. He currently directs the Graduate Screenwriting Program at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. The Sean Clark Papers currently consist primarily of scripts and screenplays for Early Edition and drafts of a screenplay, Black Irish, which has been optioned but not yet produced.

COHEN, ALBERT J. Albert J. Cohen Productions, 33 ft; 70 boxes. MsC 126. Finding Aid .
Writer-producer whose credits include (as writer): Let's Live a Little (1948); (as producer): Unknown Island (1949), Horizons West (1952), Playgirl (1954), So This Is Paris (1955), etc. This large collection contains scripts in various drafts for a large number of films and television programs and a great deal of production material: budgets, shooting schedules, work orders, correspondence, cancelled checks, etc. It provides insight insight into the workings of a Hollywood studio in the 1950s and 1960s. A major sub-series is a studio story file, complete for a period of nine years and comprising seven boxes of material.

COLLINS, MAX ALLAN, 1946--. Papers of Max Allan Collins, 1967-1996. 38 ft. Finding Aid.
Author, filmmaker, and comic strip writer. The papers document his film and literary career. His novels, comics (including Dick Tracy and Ms. Tree), and screenplays are represented in various forms of completion, with typescript drafts, artwork, correspondence, research, galley proofs, and promotional material. MsC500.

FARRAN, DON, 1902-1986. Don Farran Manuscripts, 1903-1978. 2 ft. MsC600. Finding Aid
Writer, State Director Historical Records Survey. Collection includes drafts of poems and stories but consists largely of scripts for Navy and Coast Guard training films dating from the mid-1930s to the mid-1950s. Iowa Author. MsC600See also his " Recollections of the Federal Theatre " from Books at Iowa 18.

FEDERAL THEATRE PROJECT. Playscripts of the Federal Theatre Project, 1936-1938, 1.5 ft. MsC314.
Complete working scripts of 19 produced and 5 unproduced plays. Includes Eugene O'Neill (One-Act Plays of the Sea) and George Bernard Shaw (On the Rocks). MsC314. (Finding Aid)

FELTON, NORMAN, 1913--. Norman Felton Papers. 63 ft. MsC 265. Finding Aid .
e. University of Iowa. American television writer-producer who worked at CBS in the late 50s and early 60s before forming his own production company. His credits include Robert Montgomery Presents, Studio One, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Dr. Kildare, and many others. This large collection includes correspondence, general files, production files, and script material for a number of Felton's television series. The Man from U.N.C.L.E. is particularly well documented, with materials ranging from budgets to fan mail. Much of the collection consists of produced and un-produced teleplays by Felton and others, including Garson Kanin, James Bridges, and Rod Sterling.

FINSTERWALD, MAXINE, 1906-. Papers of Maxine Finsterwald, 1928-1983, 2 ft. MsC427. Finding Aid
Radio scriptwriter (Kaffee Klatch and Playhouse of the Air among others) and playwright (as Maxine Wood). Correspondence, photographs, clippings, scrapbooks, typescripts, etc.

GRAHAM, MANTA SHELLENBERGER, 1883- . Papers of Manta Shellenberger Graham, 1919-1953. Iowa Authors Mss. MsC616. Finding Aid
Between 1919 and 1941, Graham wrote and published at least 43 plays (represented by typescripts in this collection, a gift in 1953).

[HEGGEN, TOM]. Leggett, John, 1917-. Ross and Tom (Simon & Schuster, 1974). Drafts and typescripts in several versions. Also 300 Ross Lockridge letters, 40 interviews; copies of newspaper articles and book reviews; 446 letters by and about Tom Heggen, 95 interviews, copies of stories and articles written by him; copies of newspaper and magazine articles written about him and "Mr. Roberts"; official reports concerning his death; and general research and miscellaneous Items. Ms L513r. MsC503. Leggett finding aid.

KEMP, BARRY, 1949--. Papers of Barry Kemp. 13 ft. MsC 495. Finding Aid .
b. Hannibal, Missouri. e. University of Iowa. American television writer and producer. Kemp was a writer and executive script consultant for the television series Taxi, and was nominated for both the Emmy and Writer's Guild awards. By 1982, Kemp was an executive producer for MTM Enterprises, writing the pilot for "In Security" and creating The New Bob Newhart Show - later Newhart - early in his tenure there. Since 1987, his Bungalow 78 Productions has launched a number of situation comedies for Universal including Coach and Delta. The Barry Kemp Collection contains 144 first draft and final scripts consisting of a miniseries and 90 episodes of seven weekly television series for which Kemp has served as creator and/or writer or producer. The materials for the program Coach are the most extensive. Supplements to this collection, television scripts and episodes on video tape, are added yearly.

LILJENQUIST, DON. The Chancellor's Party, a play. First produced at State University Theatre 25-28 February, 1-8 March 1947. Iowa's prize-winning centennial play. 1st draft in notebook. 2nd draft as submitted to contest. 3rd draft as presented in 1947 with revisions by author, Charles Gaupp and Professor Mabie. 4th draft a later version written at Stanford University from which the published edition was prepared. MsC776. (Finding Aid)

MAIBAUM, RICHARD, 1909-1991. Richard Maibaum Papers. 19 ft, 4 boxes of models. MsC 149. Finding Aid .
b. New York City. e. University of Iowa. American screenwriter, producer, actor. Maibaum had a brief career as a Shakespearean actor on Broadway before moving to Hollywood in the 1930s where he was employed by M.G.M. as a screenwriter. In 1942, Maibaum joined the U.S. Army and produced morale films. After the war he became a producer and screenwriter at Paramount. He is perhaps best remembered for his "James Bond" screenplays. Divided into six sections, the Maibaum collection consists primarily of screenplays and treatments, publicity, clippings and research related directly to specific stage, film or television projects. There are materials for both produced and unproduced works. The "James Bond" series is one of the most extensive. It includes notes, sketches, screen treatments, screenplay drafts,and final scripts. The series also includes correspondence, publicity, photographs, and clippings. The biographical series contains correspondence, interviews and various subject files. The final series is made up of all manner of research and historical data used by Maibaum in his writings. A 1994 addenda to the Maibaum collection, courtesy of Matthew Maibaum, Maibaum's son, consists of 53 plastic replicas of props used in various Maibaum productions, with a descriptive catalog detailing each item.

MEYER, NICHOLAS, 1945-- . Nicholas Meyer Papers. 15 ft. MsC 425. Finding Aid .
b. New York. e. University of Iowa. American screenwriter and director whose first film project was the adaptation to the screen of his own novel, The Seven-Percent Solution (1976). Additional credits include Time After Time (1979), Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), the controversial television movie The Day After (1983), and Volunteers (1985). Documenting Meyer's career as a writer, this collection includes notes, drafts, treatments, journals, etc., on various realized and unrealized projects, including The Seven-Percent Solution (novel and screenplay) and Time after Time. It also contains correspondence and general files, as well as, to a lesser extent, production materials, posters, scrapbooks, etc., for Meyer's films. as well as a number of articles, essays, stories, and reviews written by Meyer since the early 1970s.

MORRELL, DAVID, 1943--. Papers of David Morrell, 1974-1997. 10 ft. MsC478. Finding Aid
PhD in American literature 1970, Pennsylvania State University; taught at Iowa from 1970 to 1986, resigned to write. Perhaps best known for Rambo, the central character of his 1972 novel First Blood, which lead to the Rambo films starring Sylvester Stallone, Morrell has written numerous novels as well as screen- and teleplays. The growing collection of his papers includes video and audio tapes as well as research notes, correspondence, and manuscripts.

O'NEAL, CHARLES, 1904-1996. Charles O'Neal Papers. 3 ft. MsC 360. Finding Aid .
b. Raeford, North Carolina. e. University of Iowa. American motion picture and television writer and novelist. His credits include Return of the Badmen (motion picture) and Three Wishes of Jamie McRuin (novel). Father of actor Ryan O'Neal. The Charles O'Neal Papers span the years 1942-1982 and are divided into two sections: The Charles O'Neal Papers (12 boxes) and the Ryan O'Neal Papers (4 boxes). The Charles O'Neal Papers consist of screenplays and teleplays written by O'Neal and others; typescripts of the O'Neal novels The Thirty-Second Day, written with Victor Trivas, and The Three Wishes of Jamie McRuin; general correspondence 1973-1979; and advertisements and promotions for The Three Wishes of Jamie McRuin as well as correspondence concerning film and television rights and reprintings of the novel.

O'NEAL, RYAN, 1941. Ryan O'Neal Papers. 5 ft. 1 ft. MsC 360. Finding Aid .
b. Los Angeles, CA. American television and motion picture actor. Known for his role in the television program Peyton Place. The Ryan O'Neal Papers contain episode scripts (numbered 258-346) from the years 1966-1967 of the television program Peyton Place.

ROSS, ARTHUR. Arthur Ross Productions. 13 ft. MsC 127. Finding Aid .
Arthur Ross: American film and television writer. Credits include: Okinawa (1952), Harold Lloyd's World of Comedy (1962), The Great Race (1965), etc. Consisting of 21 boxes of written materials, nine notebooks and one oversized drawer, the Ross collection includes his screenplays, television scripts and fiction. Items of particular interest include drafts and sketches for The Great Race, teleplays for The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, nine boxes of photographs from a number of motion pictures and three phonographic disk recordings of "Suspense" radio programs.

SMITH, LEWIS WORTHINGTON. The Art of Life (play).Printer's copy. "Crises: Poetic Broadcasts of the Contemporaneous" (drafts). MsC702. (Finding Aid)

STERN, STEWART, 1922--. Stewart Stern Papers. 10 ft. MsC 440. Finding Aid .
b. New York. e. University of Iowa. Film and television writer. After a brief career as an actor, Stern wrote his first screenplay, Teresa, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1951. His subsequent films have included Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Rachel, Rachel (1968), Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973), and the highly acclaimed television production of Sybil (1976). This collection consists of personal papers and correspondence, scrapbooks, photographs, sketches and posters, as well as a variety of professional papers relating to Stern's many writing projects. These include research notes, casting lists and workbooks, as well as a variety of screenplay drafts for Stern's completed films. In addition, there is a great deal of script material relating to un-produced projects.

SWIFT, DAVID, 1919--. David Swift Productions. 8 ft. MsC 125. Finding Aid .
b. Minneapolis. Radio, television, and motion picture writer-producer-director whose films include Pollyanna (1960), The Parent Trap (1961), The Interns (1962), Love Is a Ball (1963), Under the Yum Yum Tree (1963), Good Neighbor Sam (1964), How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (1967: wrote, produced, directed). The collection consists of 12 boxes containing written materials and four oversized drawers containing production sketches and designs. The written materials include scripts from the television series Grindl, Camp Runamuck, and Mr. Peepers, as well as a number of single scripts for dramatic series. Also included are scripts in various drafts for most of Swift's films, along with production information. Housed in the oversized drawers are costume sketches, set designs and storyboards for the motion picture How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

TWENTIETH CENTURY-FOX. Twentieth Century-Fox Script Collection. 200 ft. MsC 302. Finding Aid .
An American film production and distribution company founded in the early days of cinema by William Fox. In 1935, Fox merged with Darryl F. Zanuck's Twentieth-Century Pictures to form the Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. The collection consists primarily of script material on nearly 1500 Twentieth Century-Fox titles spanning the years 1929-1971. These titles are arranged alphabetically within the collection and are likewise listed in the finding aid. The materials include drafts screenplays as well as dialogue and cutting continuity scripts. Some films are represented by a large amount of material, including several draft screenplays, while others are represented by a single item. Ranging from The Diary of Anne Frank to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Days of Wine and Roses, many of the pictures are well-known Hollywood fare. Just as important, however, the collection allows students a chance to explore the standard product of a working Hollywood studio. Although the collection is not complete, it provides an excellent sample of the kinds of pictures produced by Twentieth Century-Fox. In addition, there are three boxes of material relating to exhibition and Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation.

RICHARDSON, HOWARD. Papers of Howard Richardson, 1923-1987. 13.5 ft. Finding Aid
Dramatist. Subject files relating to his career and personal life, including drafts, photographs, set designs, etc. Much of the collection relates to his best known play, "Dark of the Moon". MsC301.

WILLSON, MEREDITH, 1902-1984. Papers of Meredith Wilson, 1948-1957. 0.5 ft. MsC731. Finding Aid
Writer, musician, composer, and lyricist, best known for The Music Man. Manuscript drafts from his books, a script from The Music Man, and sheet music. Iowa Authors Mss.

ZUGSMITH, ALBERT, 1910-. Papers of Albert Zugsmith, 1961-1968. .5 ft. MsC 196. Finding Aid .
b. Atlantic City, New Jersey. e. University of Virginia. American film producer and director. Worked with International Broadcasting Corporation, founded Albert Zugsmith Corp., a large publishing house for radio and television periodicals. President of World Printing Corp. and then American Pictures Corp. In 1950, Zugsmith assumed production responsibilities, forming Universal-International. However, after a crisis forced Universal-International to give up its studios, Zugsmith retired from the company, organized a firm of his own, and began to act as director as well as producer. The collection consists of one box of script materials ranging from shooting schedules to screenplays.